Change for the Better, Change for the Worse
by Oliver's Cupcakes
Summary: Gilbert and Matthew have been best friends since they were little kids, and ever since then he and Alfred have been trying to get him to be more confident. He finally started to be confident after Gilbert moved away. But when Gilbert returns four years later, Matthew no longer knows who he is. Crappy summary, trust me it's a good story! Please R&R :)
1. Chapter 1

"Come on, Mattie, you can't be friendless forever!" A seven year old Alfred yelled as he struggled to drag a sled up the sloping street. He was assisted by an eight year old Gilbert, who was grinning cheekily back at the shy boy. They'd just gotten a full foot of snow, and the two boys-who had dragged Matthew along- intended on making the best use of their time before it heated up again. The Canadian/American in question held his stuffed white bear a little closer to his chest, shaking his head uncertainly. "No, I'd rather stay down-" His soft voice was interrupted by his obnoxious twin.

"Haha, we finally got it! Get in, Gil!" Gilbert fought back a frown at Alfred's interruption as he positioned himself behind the sled. "I'll push," he clarified. "I'm too awesome to be pushed. You get in first." Alfred shrugged, getting into the front of the sled. With a huge heave, Gilbert jumped in after him.  
He'd always wished Matthew was in the sled with them, but he'd never forget that adorable grin on his face as they passed each other.

Years passed, and the boys were ten and eleven. They sat on the swings at the playground. Alfred's Danish friend had joined them, and they sat together on the set of four, absentmindedly talking about school and other stuff. A few other friends had joined them and were standing around with them; Arthur, Francis, Kiku and his older brother Yao. Francis was staring dreamily out at a younger girl sitting across the park with her friends and brother.

"You a have a crush on her?" Arthur asked, smirk playing on his face. Francis didn't get the chance to answers. "No way, dude, that Natalya girl would kill him. She's almost as protective of her friends as she is of her brother." The group at the mention of Ivan. "I agree with Alfred," Kiku nodded. Gilbert rolled his eyes as he heard a yell from all the way across the park. "Get your own dang opinion, Kiku!" All eight of them laughed, though they tried to cover it up. That's was started the greatest Nerf war in the history of World Elementary.

Gilbert noticed Matthew had split off from the others, and immediately went to locate his friend. He ended up finding the blond behind a tall maple tree. "Whatcha doin' back here?" He asked, causing Matthew to jump. "W-wha- oh! H-hi Gilbert." Gilbert chuckled. Matthew's stutter always made him laugh- not making fun of him, of course. "Seriously though, answer my question," he prompted. Matthew sighed. "The others weren't shooting at me, and they didn't notice when I shot them. It got boring pretty fast."

Gilbert furrowed his eyebrows. "You really gotta start being more social. Ya' know, talk to people." Matthew shook his head. "Easy for you to say," he sighed softly. "You're popular and cool and loud and smart and strong and _awesome_." Well, that was true. Gilbert was awesome, plain and simple. But that didn't mean Matthew didn't deserve any attention. "True, true," Gilbert nodded. "But really birdie, promise me you'll try and make some new friends? Confidence is key. You know what, me an' Alfred will coach you! On awesomeness! We'll teach you to be a conceited jerk like we are." Matthew laughed good naturedly, shaking his head. "Whatever, if you say so."

Admittedly, the next year was when Gilbert had first gotten a crush on his friend. It was also the most bittersweet year of his life. At the end of the year, when he was *thirteen, he and his brother moved to Germany. All his friends had held a huge goodbye party the day before, and the closest of them; Francis, Antonio, Matthew, and Alfred; had come to the plane with him to say their final farewells. "Skype me, mon ami," Francis ordered, patting his old friend on the back as they hugged. "Yea- hey!" Gilbert shoved his snickering friend off, turning to Antonio. "Like Franny said, Skype us, okay?" He grinned sadly. "Yeah. Good luck with Lovino." Antonio punched Gilbert in the shoulder as he started his goodbyes to his oldest friends.

"I'll call you guys, no matter how expensive it is," he promised, voice muffled by Alfred and Matthew's jackets in their group hug. "You'd better, or I'll track you down and kick your butt!" Alfred yelled. They laughed, separating. Gilbert looked up at Matthew- the Canadian (he denied being American) had grown taller than him, he realized. "

"Remember what you promised, okay, Mattie?" Gilbert smiled weakly. "I'll do what you said," he agreed, voice louder than it had been a year ago and nearly a normal volume. "Get cocky, get loud, and get some friends." Gilbert buckled as he buried his face into Matthew's shoulder again, their last beg before his brother pulled him away (his goodbyes hadn't lasted nearly as long). "Remember, change, Mattie! Change for the better!" Gilbert yelled as they boarded the plane, and he frantically waved at everyone, eyes on his best friend Matthew Williams.

"Bruder, you're not crying, are you?" Ludwig asked as their old home faded from sight. "What? No way!" Gilbert sniffed. "I'm way too awesome to.. To cry!" His sentence was interrupted by a silent sob.

**((*Sorry to put an A/N in the middle but just wanted to explain my timeline here. It was summer and Gilbert was 11. For sixth grade he still just liked Matt as a friend but during seventh he got a crush on him. At the end of that year, he moved.))**

Gilbert yawned as he hit the button on his alarm clock. Great, another stupid day at this stupid s- wait! It was _not_ another stupid day at his stupid school in stupid Matthewless Germany!

His family had moved back to America just this last month, in fact, back to their hometown. Seeing everyone else, the people he hadn't seen in person for four whole years, excited him, but not so much as seeing Matthew. During the first year of living in Germany, he'd broken his phone, and Matthew's number had been stupidly saved to the phone and not the card. No one else in his family had Matthew's number, and Antonio and Francis were the only ones with Skype, so he hadn't had any contact with Matthew in three and a half years.

For four months after losing contact, Francis and Antonio had kept him updated on everything Matthew did. As promised, he made new friends; a Dutch boy named Tim, a Cuban boy (whom Gilbert forgot the name of), and a few others. They of course talked about Alfred too, he and Matthias had started dating to the surprise of everyone and Gilbert had sent them his best wishes. However, after a while they slowly said less and less about Matthew. They made it quite apparent he hadn't died or moved; showing him pictures of him from school trips and the yearbook. But it just felt wrong to Gilbert that his best friends talked more about Alfred than his brother whom they knew he liked.

There was no reason to complain, now, though, because he got to see Matthew for himself!

Gilbert was out of his bed in seconds. In minutes he'd showered and dressed, soon he'd combed his hair, brushed his teeth, and was downstairs. He almost laughed to see he was awake even before his brother, who had just stumbled out of his bedroom in his pajamas. "Come on, brohaus, not excited to see Feli?" the silver-haired teen prompted. This woke Ludwig up a bit and he quickly turned, nodding sleepily as he went back into his bedroom.

_Pancakes_, Gilbert thought dreamily as he ate that very food. _They were always Matthew's favorite._There was a brief moment of doubt as he daydreamed- what if Matthew didn't like him? What if he didn't like guys period? Would it ruin their chance at being friends again if he asked him out?_Trivial matters like that shouldn't break the awesome Gilbert's spirit,_ he reminded himself._ It's not like you're gonna ask him out right away, give it a few weeks_.

His plate emptied, Gilbert quickly stood, slinging his backpack onto his back as he ran to greet the bus. He slid into a seat, Ludwig soon following him. There were sudden yells from the back of the bus.  
"Gilbert!"  
"Gilbert!"  
"Bird-brain!"  
Gilbert chuckled. There they were- Francis, Antonio, and Elizabeta. He stood in a slight crouch, shifting to the back of the bus to sit in the seat next to Elizabeta. "Don't mind if I sit here, right? Kesese." The Hungarian rolled her eyes, but couldn't resist smiling at the sight of her old friend. "It's been so long, mom ami!" Francis exclaimed as Gilbert turned his eyes back to them. "Franny, we talked last night. I told you I was coming." The Frenchman rolled his eyes. "Oui, but we haven't see each other in person since the sixth grade. So much as happened since then!" Gilbert laughed as Antonio spoke up again. "Yeah, see how Elizabeta's not with Roderich yet? Turns out he's dating that Swiss guy, Vash."  
"That surprises me. That Vash is dating someone, not that Piano-boy is gay," Gilbert pointed out. "Shut up! Don't bring that up and don't make fun of Roderich!" Elizabeta yelled, catching the attention of everyone on the bus. "Jeez," Gilbert sighed through clenched teeth, rubbing his head. "You're scary enough without your freaking frying pan. Remind me not to make you mad when you have it. Anyway, speaking of change, how's Mattie?" He asked the question with such a genuine smile on his face that Francis couldn't help but feel bad as he answered. "He's, uh, great!"

It wasn't a complete lie. Matthew had, in fact, been doing very well. He'd made plenty more friends and gotten pretty popular with girls and guys alike. In seventh grade he'd started hockey, and had recently joined the football team, gaining more popularity as he got better. He was no longer the quiet, Matthew everyone had come to know- he'd become a loud, confident jock like his brother, and had even stolen his spotlight in recent years.

However, this wasn't the reason Francis and Antonio had stopped talking about him, of course. Matthew had become more than cocky- in fact, he could now easily be described as a jerk. He rarely talked about anything but himself. He'd become a huge womanizer, and had dated basically every girl in the school. He scarcely bothered talking about his old friends anymore and had in fact stopped really talking to his brother about anything. Whenever someone would bring up Gilbert, he'd brush it off, saying that 'he got over that silly friendship a long time ago.' Recently he'd even started forgetting about the old days. That was why Francis felt so bad saying that Matthew'd been doing great.

"Awesome! Can't wait to see him!" Gilbert cheered as Elizabeta gave Francis a sympathetic glance from behind. They were nearing the school by now. "Here we are, guys."  
The teenagers filed off of the bus as normal. It was a normal day, after all; mid January was nothing special. Gilbert found himself scanning the crowd for Matthew. He finally found a head of golden-brown hair. "Hey, Mat-" He broke off as he turned the boy around by his shoulder. This wasn't Matthew, but Alfred. Astounding- usually people mistook Matthew for his brother, as far as Gilbert knew. "Gilbert? God, it really is you! Why didn't you tell me you were coming? Oh, right, lost your phone." The rush of quick wording brought a grin to Gilbert's face as Alfred separated his hand from Matthias's (whom Gilbert had also just now noticed) to hug him. "Great to see you," Gilbert said as they separated.

"I'm real sorry to leave you so soon after seeing you again, but have you seen your brother?" Alfred nodded in answer to Gilbert's question. "Yeah, he's got math first, I think." _You think? But Mattie tells you everything, right?_ "Mr. Davis's room." The thought was broken off as Gilbert's face again erupted into a grin. "Awesome, *me too! Why aren't you with him, though?" The question still hung in his mind as the bell rung and Alfred muttered an apology, running to his class. Gilbert was a few minutes late for his own class for two reasons- one being he'd never been to this school and the other being that his classroom turned out to be on the other side; he'd followed Alfred almost all the way to his classroom. He apologized to the teacher and introduced himself to the class, answering various questions about Germany. He wasn't really paying much attention, though, to anyone but Matthew.

**((Let's just say they held Gilbert back a grade for immaturity. I've seen it done. XD)) **

The first thing that struck him was his eyes, surprisingly enough. Once lit with a shy, hesitant kind of awe at everything, they now gleamed with pure confidence in a sense that said 'challenge my position, I dare you.' They were still that perfect violet, though. The next thing was Matthew's hair. It was still wavy, but he'd cut it short, about the length of his brother's, and didn't have that adorable stray curl any more. It still looked softer than a girl's hair. As Gilbert took a seat in the second row, he noticed how much Matthew had exceeded his height; in fact the Canadian looked to be over six feet now and had left Gilbert in the dust at five feet, ten inches. He no longer wore a baggy sweatshirt and instead dressed in a white and blue leather jacket with their school's logo; most likely got it from sports. Instead of paying attention to what the teacher was saying with the interest of someone who loved to learn anything, he texted discreetly under his desk. He'd changed for sure, and Gilbert had to say he was kind of proud. He wondered, though, why his old friend hadn't looked up at the announcement of his 'new' classmate.

After math, there were a few boring classes Gilbert didn't pay much attention to; he was too busy thinking about Matthew. Finally the time came for lunch. He had a good feeling Matthew shared the same lunch period as him, and he was right. There he was, sitting at a lunch table in the center of the lunch room, surrounded by friends. "Hey, Matt," Gilbert greeted loudly, not expecting to be ignored over the chatter. "Matthew," he said again, louder this time. "Matthew Williams!" He was yelling now, and had finally gained Matthew's attention. The irritated football player turned around to see an albino German with his arms crossed. For some reason he felt he should know this guy, but his face didn't ring a very loud bell. "Just who are you and what gives you the right to interrupt my conversation?"

_Who are you?_

Anything else would've just made Gilbert yell, or laugh it off. 'Leave me alone, I'm busy, get the hell away.' But those three words were enough to make him crack.

How many times had he heard those words directed at the very person I front of him by people he knew so well?

How many times had he had to sit for hours comforting his sobbing friend?

How many times had he gotten detention for punching or even all out beating up the source of that stupid sentence?

And now here he was,asking his best friend, the boy who had loved him for five years, the question that was the bane of his existence.

"You haven't.. really forgotten, have you?" Gilbert stammered, gaining a small bit of laughter of the surrounding table. "Sorry, bro, but I don't know who you are. Would you kindly leave now?" Gilbert gritted his teeth. So Matthew had forgotten him. That's why no one talked about him any more. That's why Francis and Antonio changed the subject whenever he was brought up. "W-whatever. It doesn't matter," he stuttered, spinning and running from the table. He immediately sat down next to his other two friends, slamming his fists down on the table.

"Why didn't you tell me?" Gilbert demanded. "Him not liking me I can handle. Even just saying 'Oh, look, that guy I used to be friends with' or 'Hey, it's you! Remind me what your name is?' would've been okay. In fact, it would have been fine if he hated me. But for.. Forgetting me?" Francis put an arm around his now crying friend's shoulder. "You fell hard, mon ami.." He murmured. "We didn't tell you because we wanted you to be happy," Antonio sighed from Francis's other side. "We thought you'd be okay knowing he was getting along well. But we didn't expect you to move back here, so by the time that happened, you'd still be mad at us." Gilbert was still at loss for words as he silently sobbed into his friend's shoulder.

Weeks later, maybe even more than a month, Gilbert had convinced himself he was over it. Matthew had moved on, it didn't matter, of course the only reason he'd wanted to move back didn't matter, right? People always moved on. He shouldn't cling to the past like that. He was still good friends with Alfred and everyone else, so losing Matthew didn't matter. There was one last thing he needed to do, though.

"You're not asking him out, are you?" Francis asked worriedly as Gilbert pushed a piece of paper into Matthew's locker. He'd gotten over Matthew, right? "Nah," Gilbert sighed, shaking his head with a weak smile. "He forgot I existed, right? Besides, he has a girlfriend. Just a little something I've been meaning to say but haven't had the courage to. Even now I'm not signing it properly." The blond Frenchman raised an eyebrow, but asked no further question as they left for English.

Later that day,Matthew had finally shrugged off his followers to gather his things and go home. "Eh? What's this?" he murmured, just as a slip of white paper fell out onto the ground by his feet. He unfolded the paper to see it was a light red in color with a large yellow bird printed in the bottom left corner that reminded him of someone. He read the note to himself.

_I told you to change for the better, but it seems you've changed for the worse. Guess there's nothing I can do about it, though. Take care, okay, birdie? A part of me will always_ _love you._  
_-The Awesome Me_


	2. Chapter 2

**((A/N: Sorry, but Ivan is naturally the school's biggest bully. Cliche but kinda mandatory, ya know?))**

_I told you to change for the better, but it seems you've changed for the worse. Guess there's nothing I can do about it, though. Take care, okay, birdie? A part of me will always_ _love you.  
-The Awesome Me  
_  
Matthew'd had a very vague idea, if not no idea at all, of who it was before he read those three words. _The Awesome Me_. That was what brought it all back. He'd thought he recognized that silver-white hair from some where- it reminded him of snow. Wait, snow? There was a memory there..

Matthew stood grinning at the bottom of a hill, knee-deep in snow. He was seven years old and playing with Gilbert and his brother, both because he had nothing better to do and because he loved the snow. It was cold, and soft, and pure, and in his opinion perfect. Not to mention you could make nearly anything out of it, and it was edible. "Come on, Mattie, you can't be friendless forever!" He looked up to see Gilbert calling to him from the top of the hill. "No, I'd rather stay down-" Matthew let out a sigh at his brother's voice, overly loud even from here. "Haha, we finally got it! Get in, Gil!" He couldn't hear the conversation after that, but it still made him smile, really grin, as Gilbert and Alfred rushed past him.

He did know the boy. The one who had come up behind him in the lunch room, saying hello. The one who he'd told.. Crap. He'd asked who he.. who Gilbert was.

"You don't have to yell, Williams!" A tall boy scoffed as his friend pushed Matthew backwards. Matthew just blinked, shaking his head to clear it. This was a daily thing, there was no need to get worked up about it. No one ever asked how he was, or why he was bruised. "You really should talk more, you know," the tallest boy- the ten year old who'd pushed him- giggled. His friends were almost all 'big kids,' middle schoolers, but Ivan took pleasure in being their leader. He had a way of frightening people with his brute strength and childish nature.

"Yeah, Maple-brain," some kid laughed behind him Ivan, stepping forwards to swing a punch at Matthew. Matthew winced as the child's fist collided with his head, sending him reeling backwards into a tree trunk. It didn't matter if it happened every day, getting punched in the face hurt! "Q-quit it.." He whispered. "The mute spoke!" snickered a tough-looking girl. Ivan grinned and pulled back his fist, aiming to hit the boy again, when a small white blur crashed into him.

"Shut up, you freaking dummkopf!" Gilbert yelled as he knocked Ivan to the ground. He broke into a slew of German insults as he rapidly punched Ivan wherever he could in between dodging the now standing boy's punches. Finally he managed to land a hit on Ivan's face, knuckles cracking against his large nose. There was another crack and blood spurted from Ivan's nose ((not like that =P)) and he fell to the ground, letting out deceiving whimpers.

"Crap, he took out Ivan.. No one takes out Ivan!" someone began panicking. "Grab him and go," another grumbled, and the first obediently began to drag Ivan away by the scarf. Gilbert, rubbing a bruise on his cheek, turned to Matthew. He slumped to the ground next to his friend on his knees. "You okay, Mattie?" He asked softly, furrowing his silvery eyebrows. "Mmhmm," the Canadian answered. At that volume it would have been inaudible to anyone but Gilbert.

"You're lying," Gilbert argued, pulling Matthew's face up with his free hand. A huge bruise had formed on his chin, and the skin on his bottom lip had busted open, not to mention he was clutching his stomach. "Great, Mattie," the German laughed weakly, shifting Matthew's left arm up onto his shoulder and lifting him up. "I can walk on my own.." the blond whispered. "Really?" Gilbert smirked, letting go of his grip on the arm. Matthew stumbled, falling to the ground with his right hand over his stomach. "I take it back, help me.." Gilbert rolled his eyes, picking Matthew back up. "You know, there's a reason I was looking for you," he pointed out. Someone had been looking for him? That was rare. Usually if anyone was looking for him it was either because they thought he was Alfred or they wanted to beat him up. "Really?" He asked, eyes sparkling. "Yeah! I got this little yellow bird. His name is Gulbird! He's adorable, just like you! You know what, imma call you that now, 'Kay birdie?"

Matthew smiled fondly at the memory. It was starting to come back to him- the person he'd turned away, and the one who'd written this note, was Gilbert Beillschmidt, his best friend of five years... until he'd moved away to Germany.

Matthew had never cried harder than he did that night. Silent sobs had racked his chest for hours on end, and he buried his face into his pillow, soaking in with salty tears. He knew it wasn't like Gilbert had left him forever; he'd still call, and text, and he'd be able to go to Francis's house and Skype, but it'd never be the same. Who'd sneak out of the house at midnight just to help Matthew satisfy his sudden pancake cravings? Who would listen to Matthew's long, upset rambles? Who was going to get detention for beating Ivan up, not even bothering with explaining that the other was the real bully? Who would coach him on confidence?

That was the moment that Matthew had decided to become the most confident kid at World Junior High.

Gilbert'd told him to change for the better, and by maple, he was gonna do it. He would talk loudly, he'd make friends with everyone he could, he'd make himself seen. He'd try sports and make himself known. This attitude had gotten him into trouble on more than one occasion. He lost good friends; Kiku and Arthur stopped talking to him as he gained popularity with less-than-well-behaved students. It was for this reason Matthew had somehow begun to dislike Gilbert. Because of him, he'd lost his quiet, under-the-radar life, and some of the greatest friends he had. They'd been replaced by fake friends who only liked him for his popularity. He'd made plenty more real friends, of course, but he still found some reason to hate Gilbert. He even began to ramble about it to Francis, Antonio and his 'friends.' This, coupled with the fact he could no longer talk to him, was why he just began to block out any memory of the older boy whatsoever. By the tenth grade, you could no lover ask Matthew Williams about a Gilbert Beillschmidt and get any sort of bell to ring.

Now the memories he'd tried so hard to block out were rushing back into his head like water. The Nerf Gun War, all those days at the ice cream shop, staying up late for impromptu sleepovers, the camping trip on which Gilbert had broken his leg and Matthew had to carry him back. Why did he ever block out Gilbert? If he didn't love the other boy four years ago, he loved him now. He shoved the note into his pocket_. This is just great.. This is way too freaking much to take in! My best friend just moved back from Germany, I'm probably gonna have to break up with Katyusha and Ivan's gonna kill me for that, and.. Apparently I'm gay. Alright, no biggy, ask the guy out tomorrow. _ He shoved his stuff messily into his locker, slamming it shut. He was glad at that moment that the hallway was empty; detention had its bonuses.

He rushed home, and for the first time in years Matthew bothered to say hello to Alfred as he entered, much to his brother's surprise. Before he could respond, though, Matthew was up the stairs and in his bedroom. He was bound to have some pictures somewhere, right?

Two hours of searching later, Matthew had finally located what he was looking for. There was a box full of photographs of the two of them, Alfred and Mathias, with the occasional Francis or Antonio. There were so many memories there. A cheeky grin as all six of them stared at the camera, arms around each other at the campfire. A picture of later that night as Gilbert shoved a s'more into Matthew's laugh; another of his retaliation as he pushed Gilbert into the water. Matthew remembered that trip clearly. Gilbert had yanked Matthew into the water after him. Somehow Alfred, Matthias, Francis and Antonio had gotten involved in a huge water fight. The next day they'd gone hiking and he and Gilbert had broken off from the group; that was the day Gilbert broke his leg. There was a picture of the two of them with there arms around 'Elijah,' the very masculine guy who had turned out to be a girl named Elizabeta (finding that out had been a very.. Interesting experience for Gilbert.) There was one picture that, up until a few years ago, he truly treasured.

It was a little blurry, but that didn't stop it from being his favorite. Kiku and newly-girly Elizabeta had deviously planned away to get a good picture and taught Gilbert and Matthew about the pocky game. Naturally, Gilbert had declared it was 'only awesome of him' to try it, so he forced Matthew into playing with him. They realized too late the game ended in a kiss, and had ended up red-face, sputtering and chasing Kiku and Elizabeta with the latter's own frying pan. The two had jokingly given them each a copy of the photo, and they couldn't go near each other for a week without getting 'the face' from the culprits of this 'crime.'

_I really do like Gilbert_, Matthew thought to himself as he relaxed on his bed with the photo in his hand. He fell asleep like that, though he ended up clutching the picture (and somehow his old stuffed bear) to his chest.

**Sorry this is so short, your reviews made me so happy I was just like "I will write moooooaaaar." My average chapter is closer to about 2500 words. Please R&R! Thanks!**


	3. Chapter 3

**((For my friends on fanfiction, thanks for all the reviews! And for my deviantart buddies, thanks for the faves! This'll be the last part. It starts out a bit sad but by the end it's all happy and stuff! Woot, no more angst. You even get a funny epilogue type thing.))**

Gilbert yawned as he woke up to his alarm. Once again, the thoughts from just months ago went through his head, if with minor changes. _Another stupid day at this stupid school that is made a little less stupid by Francis and Antonio and everyone else but is still unawesome because birdie doesn't like me._ Today there was no 'wait, it's not' or even 'you'll get to see him again soon enough.' No, he got to see Matthew every day alright. See him hanging out with his cool, popular friends, kissing his girlfriend in the hallway, completely ignore him._ He probably crumpled up that note I gave him. He probably laughed._

He slowly went through the motions of his everyday waking-up-and-getting-ready-for-pointlessness routine. Wake up. Hit snooze. Drift off again only to get woken up again. Hit sleep this time. Get yelled at by West. Squish hair brushing, getting dressed and breakfast into the last twenty minutes, force a smile and laugh with his buddies on the bus.

It wasn't as if he were depressed or hated life or anything. He still loved his friends, hanging out, and doing stupid crap they'd regret later. He loved the joy of training the dogs with his brother or sharing their complaints about America's drinking age. He still took pleasure in playing with Gilbird or making pancakes to reminisce the old times. It just wasn't the same. Nothing was the same without that hope that kept him going. That single flame that burned consistently, the thought that maybe this month he'd move back to America and get to see his birdie again. That maybe Matthew felt the same, even after all these years. He could've lived with Matthew not feeling the same, as well, and remaining friends. But that heart-shattering moment in which Matthew had spoken the words "who are you" had been the moment that had broken Gilbert.

He'd almost done it, too. Almost convinced himself that he'd gotten over it, that his friends were all he needed, that he as Matthew could go their separate ways and that he might even fall in love again. That's how he'd managed to slip that note into Matthew's locker without crying. There hadn't been tears in more than two weeks out of the five that he'd been in America. Five weeks.. _It's hard to believe that it was five weeks ago that Matthew denied my existence._ But instead of just tying up lose ends like he'd hoped, the note had broken the barrier Gilbert had built in between himself and his emotions. He cried himself to sleep the night before. Francis, Antonio, Roderich and Elizabeta didn't seem to suspect anything- and if they did, they didn't say anything- which Gilbert was grateful for. The last thing he needed was more pity.

And there they were at school. The bus pulled up and everyone filed out, messily to say in the least, in a huge liquid bunch. _Like this, it's hard to tell us apart._ Gilbert waved at his friends; they all had different first classes than him. _Mr. Davis, English class._What a cruel twist of fate it was. Due to the fact that Matthew was good friends with the boy he'd originally sat by and could never stop talking to him, he'd been moved to sit by Gilbert. So Gilbert was forced, day after day, to stare at the bit he still loved. He slid into his seat, watching from the corner of his eye as Matthew did the same thing. Hey, Matthew may not like him or even know him any more, but girls were allowed to have silly crushes on popular guys, so why couldn't he?

The class started. He payed less attention than Matthew; sure his grades were dropping, but did it even matter any more? Something seemed off about the Canadian today, though. He fidgeted nervously with his jacket sleeve, a nervous look in his eyes accompanied by what almost looked like guilt. _I've only known the knew Matthew for a bit over a month, but why would he be guilty about something?_ He ignored the feeling, simply using this empty time to watch his crush in peace. And then..

Matthew looked straight at him.

Gilbert's heart rate increased. _Oh, great. This really is turning into a silly girl-crush. Matthew is looking at me. I should really stop talking to Feliks. He's badly influencing me. Crapcrapcrap he's looking me directly in the eyes what do I sa-_

"Uh... Gilbert?"

_So he talked first._ Just like that, Gilbert was back in awesome-cool-guy mode.

"Huh? What is it?" He tried in vain to cover up the fact that he'd been staring at Matthew for the whole class.

"Two things."

"Spit em out, already." _Wow. You're making it really seem like the note wasn't you. Awesome job, Gilbert the Smooth._

Matthew actually rolled his eyes. He really had changed in the last few years. "Well, for one, the class ended forty five seconds ago, we're the last ones in here and Mr. Davis is getting a bit freaked out." Gilbert's lazy, half-lidded eyes flew open at this realization. "Crap!" He picked up his books, hastily gathering them into a messy bundle in his arms. He proceeded to dash out of the classroom, almost forgetting about Matthew. That is, until, he felt a hand grip the back of his shirt. He was taken aback by how strong Matthew's grip was, jerking him backwards with what seemed to be know effort whatsoever; when Gilbert was freed and turned around, the blond was standing straight up. "You didn't let me finish."

"Alright, what was the second thing?" Gilbert felt a small spark of hope light in his chest. Maybe, just maybe, the note had made Matthew remember. Maybe he did want to be friends with Gilbert again. Maybe, if he dared hope, maybe Matthew wanted to be more than friends.

"I, uh.. I got your note," Matthew began. _That cat's out of the bag, then. He knows it was me... Oh, great. I told him I loved him in that note._ "Y-yeah. You.. You read all of it?" Gilbert finally stuttered. He was answered with a sheepish grin. "Uh-huh. I just wanted to..."

He looked expectantly at Matthew.

"To.."

And then, an groan of frustration. "Gaaaah. You'd think this would be less hard. Being that.. And.. Screw it. Would you want to maybe possibly go get lunch with me or somethin' Saturday?" Gilbert couldn't help but think Matthew's sudden stream of quick, fumbling words was cute. Then he realized that with his new personality and build, Matthew would be.. _What do Kiku and Lizzy call it? The seme. Hmm._

Finally, after contemplating this for a moment (much to a rather confused Matthew's annoyance), Gilbert answered the question. "Well, duh. Did you _read_ the note? That combined with the fact you haven't noticed me in over a month has turned me into some sort of giggling school girl with a crush. It's pathetic, really." He dramatically pressed the back of his hand to his forehead. _This is definitely awesome. I can joke around with him again._ If he had to be honest, though, he was internally squealing in utter happiness.

"Good, then. It's a date. You know what.. One more thing."

"What now?"

"How do you break up with a girlfriend whom is one of your best friends' sister?"

"You're in some deep crap there. Can't say I can help you, so good luck." Gilbert left Matthew with a cocky grin and a wink._You've still got style, Gilbert Beillschmidt. I's bet myself twenty bucks that Matthew's jaw is dropped open right now._ (The part of his mind that was thinking that one the bet.)

~~Six Months Later~~

What had started out as a simple McDonalds n' movie date had turned into not a double, not a triple, not even quadruple, but a quintuple date. Yes, five different couples going out at the same time.

At first it was just Matthew and Gilbert going to quickly grab some food at McDonalds and then go see a movie. Then Alfred had heard there was going to be McDonalds involved and had naturally asked to tag along with Matthias. This wasn't a problem; there was nothing wrong with a double date. Naturally Elizabeta had heard about this and, knowing there'd be two pairs of boys, asked her Romanian boyfriend Vladimir to make it a triple date with her. It took some begging, but they'd reluctantly let the two come. Soon enough Elizabeta decided to make it_even better_ and asked Roderich to come with his boyfriend, Vash. That was when things got a bit out of hand. Both Matthew and Gilbert were getting overwhelmed, but Gilbert wouldn't let something this simple destroy his awesomeness, so he let the two come as well. Finally, Lili found out that her brother was going and insisted on coming with Natalya.

No one says no to Lili because she's adorable. It should be obvious why no one said no to Natalya.

And so everyone was crowding into a single McDonalds, all ten of them, having taken a bus in favor of riding in one car. It's safe to say they confused the people at the counter quite a bit, but eventually they all got their orders settled. After eating 'real' food, Gilbert, Alfred, and Matthias insisted they get ice cream as well; Lili agreed it was a good idea and therefore winning everyone over by default (because she had a scary girlfriend.) Everyone ordered McDonalds cones and sundaes. Though Gilbert got a sundae, he had to launch into a long explanation of why he would not put peanuts on it. No one was really listening, but it was something about a 'peanut conspiracy' and the government. Finally the fun part started and they arrived at the movie theater.

"What movie are we seeing anyway?" Elizabeta asked as they crossed the parking lot. Everyone had their fingers laced with the person who they had come there with, though their walking paces varied. Vladimir and Elizabeta practically danced through the parking lot, while Matthew and Gilbert stood close to each other, shoulders pressed together. Lily rested her head on Natalya's shoulder an Alfred did the same to Matthias, though Lili was the only one with a sleepy expression on her face. Roderich and Vash weren't pressed up against each other or practically snuggling like the others; neither was a big fan of public affection and both were in favor of staying relatively separate, happy enough to be connected by the soft circles Roderich rubbed on the back of Vash's hand with his thumb.

"I forget," Gilbert admitted. "I think it's some romantic comedy or maybe a horror movie. No clue."

"Matthias and I watch a lot of horror movies, so I bet I've seen it if that's what it is," Alfred declared obnoxiously, gaining a pitying head-shake from his boyfriend.

"Yeah, just 'cause you've seen it doesn't mean it won't scare the crap out of you again," he sneered jokingly. Alfred managed to shut him up with a quick kiss before the couples entered the building.

In the end, the movie was a horror movie, which was how Alfred, Lili, and Gilbert* all ended up in their respective lover's laps.

***My headcanon says that Gil is a complete wimp at scary movies so shut up. :P**


End file.
